Myanmar

To be quite honest with you, blogging about my trip to Myanmar is next to impossible. Wil Owens blogged about it here. While not wanting to rewrite the things that he said, I want to share briefly my experience and maybe a lesson or two that I either learned or was reminded of on this trip. Our experience of travel was long, but was actually very good. The conditions of the rooms we stayed in were better than I expected. The people we met and interacted with were fantastic. The country was absolutely beautiful. God once again proved Himself gracious and kind.

Some of the highlights for me were the people, the seminary, the graduation, visiting villages, handing our new clothes, baptizing several people, and the fact that the gospel of Jesus Christ is clearly moving through Myanmar. First the people. When I talk about the people I mean primarily those involved with Emmanuel Seminary and ministries in Kalaymyo. Pastor Joseph was very gracious and clearly walking with Christ. He has had his own battles, but God has continued to use and strengthen him through them all. This was of great encouragement to me! The professors, students, orphans, and workers all had a zealousness for Christ about them that could only strengthen the faith of anyone who was with them. I was convicted at times, encouraged at times, and mostly humbled by being with these brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Second highlight was the seminary. It was wonderful to see how God was using these facilities to train up a generation of gospel saturated people willing to go to the hard places equipped with the good news of Jesus Christ. I was humbled, extremely humbled, by the zealousness of these students who were eager to learn and apply what they learned from God's Word. I was challenged at how lightly I have taken my opportunity to learn and grow through formal education. This was much needed for me. I was also impressed with the devotion of the professors who sought day in and day out to teach those so eager to learn.

Third highlight was the graduation. Over 600 people from the surrounding area (which was really remote!) came to the graduation. It was done well. It was done with class and professionalism. It was hot to be sure, but I truly believe God was exalted as these students made it quite clear that they were going with the gospel to the unreached areas of Myanmar upon graduation. Again I was humbled. I was able to participate in this graduation. To be honest, I felt as though I should have left the stage and made room for someone better equipped to be there. Nevertheless, God opened my eyes once again through this experience to His grace and glory.

Fourth was on Saturday when we were able to visit and preach in a couple villages. We drove for about 45 minutes or so in the van before coming upon a bridge that the van couldn't cross. After walking across this bridge (with shaky knees!), we all go onto some scooters and went the remaining 15 minutes or so to the first village. There we found a church! We found a people who had given their lives to Jesus. It was amazing to have the opportunity to preach about the compassion of our great Savior, Jesus Christ, with these brothers and sisters.

Fifth is the fact that we were able to provide the resources to purchase new clothes for the orphans and students.

Sixth was the fact that I was able to baptize several people who were willing to proclaim that they will live for Jesus no matter what it costs them!

The final highlight (or lesson/reminder) that I'll mention (though there were many, many more) is the fact that the gospel is spreading throughout Myanmar. I was amazed at how God was using people in this area to reach others with the good news of Jesus Christ. To be sure, there is still much need and much work to be done. Myanmar is still primarily without the gospel. But God is at work. God is raising up faithful men and women who are willing to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to their own kinsmen. This is exciting to me because it means that God is working among people from every tribe and tongue and language and nation. He has promised that His name will be exalted among all the nations. We saw a small glimpse of this while in Myanmar. There is far more that could be said. God once again opened my eyes (and heart) for the nations. God allowed me to see what He is doing among these peoples. It is my deepest desire to be able to go back again, to help equip these brothers and sisters with the gospel, to pray daily for these who are laboring in the hard places, that perhaps God may use me, even slightly, to see the gospel of Jesus Christ spread throughout Myanmar, and to the ends of the earth.

I Wept Watching this, and His Love for Christ

Tim Brister posted this video today. It's fantastic. You can find out more about this here and here.

God is a Creating God

I am presently rereading Mark Dever's Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. It is really good. I think I'm learning (understanding) more this time through than before. I hope that's true at least. With that being said, I am reading it slowly, working through each chapter and thinking through how it would help our church. The following from Dever is describing who God is, because what we know of God affects everything else!

This history recorded in the Bible shows us very plainly that God is a creating God and that He is an electing God. Even if we cannot fully understand everything that is involved with this, it is undeniable that this is what the Bible teaches. It may have implications that we don't fully understand, but no small matters issue from this if we decide that our salvation ultimately comes from God rather than from ourselves.

It effects how we understand God. It affects how we understand ourselves.

We must acknowledge that God is the Great Initiator, the Great Giver, the Creator of the World, the Creator of His people, the Author of our Faith. That is what God is like.

Kevin DeYoung and John Piper Discuss the Pursuit of Holiness (Part 2) - Desiring God

Kevin DeYoung and John Piper Discuss the Pursuit of Holiness (Part 2) - Desiring God:

'via Blog this'

Don't Take for Granted the Blessing of God's Word!

Thank you, Tim Brister

Gospel Series

I have taken the last few months to preach a series on the gospel and some implications of the gospel on Sunday mornings. You can find the series here.

The series has been broken down by working through the gospel (sermons 1-5), then moving into the three big ways to look at salvation (justification, sanctification, glorification – sermons 6-8), then we moved into an understanding of the church (the gospel community – sermons 9-present).

Tomorrow we’ll continue through this time focusing on the church by looking at baptism. Baptism is one of only two ordinances given to the church. We ought not take lightly the command from Christ to be baptized as a public profession of our faith. If you are in the area, and would like to know more about baptism, I’d encourage you to come and worship/listen tomorrow morning.

Do we REALLY want to Live like Jesus?

I want to follow Jesus. I really do, I think. However, when I read and have to preach through Scriptures like Luke 9:57-58 my desires are challenged:

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."

I have to ask myself (and you), "Do I (we) really want to live like Jesus?"

Why We Worship the Way We Do – Kevin DeYoung

Since I've been thinking much about this lately, I thought I'd share this post with you from Kevin DeYoung

Why We Worship the Way We Do – Kevin DeYoung:

'via Blog this'

Sunday Sermon

This past Sunday AM we had a wonderful gathering with Cypress Lake Baptist Church. Not only was it great to gather with my brothers and sisters in Christ, but we also ordained a new deacon, and added 4 more to our faith family through membership. The PM sermon wasn't recorded, but you can listen to the morning sermon (that is actually a call for humility for every follower of Christ) below:

AM - The Gospel and Leading Servants (Mark 10:35-45)

The Word of God in a Healthy Church

Mark Dever writes:

A healthy church is a church that hears the Word of God and continues to hear the Word of God. And such a church is composed of individual Christians who hear the Word of God and continue to hear the Word of God, always being refashioned and reshaped by it, constantly being washed in the Word and sanctified by God's truth.

In Nine Marks of a Healthy Church